Notice Information
Notice Title
Train Planning Software & Implementation Services
Notice Description
Northern Trains Limited, is a Train Operating Company (TOC) that operates passenger rail services in the North of England. Northern Trains Limited is publishing this notice to establish a contract for the supply of Train Planning (Timetabling & Diagramming) software and implementation services. The nature of the arrangement is that the software and implementation services will be supplied under NTL's IT Services Agreement. NTL will award a contract under either of the following scenarios: (1) A contract will be awarded to the top scoring supplier under Lot 1, or (2) A contract will be awarded to the top scoring suppliers in Lots 2 & 3. Accordingly the overall value of the Notice is reflective of this. Where used throughout this notice, the meaning of Train Operating Companies includes all and any of those train operating companies who, currently or in the future, provide services for the carriage of passengers by railway: a. under a franchise agreement with the Secretary of State within the meaning of section 23(3) of the Railways Act 1993 or b. under, or secured under, the Secretary of State's duty in section 30(1) of the Railways Act 1993; or c. in accordance with legislation which supersedes or amends the powers referred to in a) and b), including where such powers are transferred from the Secretary of State to another body. The list of current providers of services for the carriage of passengers by railway under these provisions can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-register-of-rail-passenger-contracts. Novation or Assignment The contract may be novated or assigned by Northern Trains Limited to Train Operating Companies, or to DFT Operator Limited (company number: 07141122) or any successor parent company to a Train Operating Company, following a corporate restructuring or similar circumstance. Other Information Northern Trains Limited expressly reserves the right: i. not to award any suppliers the contract referred to in this notice; and ii. in no circumstances will the customer be liable for any costs incurred by the suppliers.
Lot Information
Train Planning Software - Single Platform
NTL is seeking to procure a single solution that will be used by the Service Planning department to deliver the following capabilities: *Planning and development of timetables for submission to Network Rail. Timetables are submitted to Network Rail on a six-month rotation and must consider the requirements of customers along with the timetables being developed in parallel by other operators. *Creation of Crew Diagrams to provide maximum coverage of timetabled services using available resource. *Creation of Unit Diagrams describing the allocation of unit types to services from within the NTL unit asset catalogue. This does not include the allocation of specific units. The successful supplier will be required to implement the solution in line with the following: *Full production implementation of a system by March 2027, with a period of parallel running completed prior. *A system and operational cutover before or during March 2027, with no material impact on the BAU activities and capabilities of the NTL Service Planning department.
Options: Additional licensing, implementation/development/configuration services
Renewal: The minimum term is six (6) years, with the option to extend for a further five (5) years, split into a three (3) year option followed by a two (2) year option, up to a total maximum duration of eleven (11) years.
Train Planning Software - (Timetabling)NTL is seeking to procure a software solution that will be used by the Service Planning department to deliver the following capabilities: *Planning and development of timetables for submission to Network Rail. Timetables are submitted to Network Rail on a six-month rotation and must consider the requirements of customers along with the timetables being developed in parallel by other operators. The successful supplier will be required to implement this solution and ensure seamless integration with the successful supplier of Lot 3 in line with the following: *Full production implementation of a system by March 2027, with a period of parallel running completed prior. *A system and operational cutover before or during March 2027, with no material impact on the BAU activities and capabilities of the NTL Service Planning department.
Options: Additional licensing, implementation/development/configuration services
Renewal: The minimum term is six (6) years, with the option to extend for a further five (5) years, split into a three (3) year option followed by a two (2) year option, up to a total maximum duration of eleven (11) years.
Train Planning Software - (Crew Unit & Diagramming)NTL is seeking to procure a software solution that will be used by the Service Planning department to deliver the following capabilities: *Creation of Crew Diagrams to provide maximum coverage of timetabled services using available resource. *Creation of Unit Diagrams describing the allocation of unit types to services from within the NTL unit asset catalogue. This does not include the allocation of specific units. The successful supplier will be required to implement this solution and ensure seamless integration with the successful supplier of Lot 2 in line with the following: *Full production implementation of a system by March 2027, with a period of parallel running completed prior. *A system and operational cutover before or during March 2027, with no material impact on the BAU activities and capabilities of the NTL Service Planning department.
Options: Additional licensing, implementation/development/configuration services
Renewal: The minimum term is six (6) years, with the option to extend for a further five (5) years, split into a three (3) year option followed by a two (2) year option, up to a total maximum duration of eleven (11) years.
Planning Information
Northern invites any Suppliers who substantially meet the system functionality detailed to register their interest in attending a briefing call hosted by the Project Team & Procurement Manager to discuss the requirements and understand the suppliers solution capability. Briefing calls for the weeks commencing 14/07/2025 & 28/07/2025 have been pre-scheduled and will be offered to Suppliers on a first come first serve basis. Following these sessions, if the Suppliers are interested in tendering for this opportunity they will be invited to send an expression of interest to Northern Trains Limited (details to follow). In the first instance, should Suppliers wish to partake in the briefing calls please send an expression of interest to Alex Ashman (alexander.ashman@northernrailway.co.uk) along with a summary of the system capabilities (i.e Product fact sheet) and should the Project team assess that the functionality is comparable to the requirements we will share a list of times for the briefing calls to be selected followed by an invitation. Expressions of interest to be submitted by 2.00pm BST Friday 11/07/2025.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-055b13
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061910-2025
- Current Stage
- Tender
- All Stages
- Planning, Tender
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK4 - Tender Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Selective
- Procurement Method Details
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
48 - Software package and information systems
72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
-
- CPV Codes
48300000 - Document creation, drawing, imaging, scheduling and productivity software package
72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £22,000,000 £10M-£100M
- Lots Value
- £22,000,000 £10M-£100M
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 2 Oct 20254 months ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- 13 Aug 2025Expired
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 20 Mar 2026 - 19 Mar 2032 Over 5 years
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Active
- Lots Status
- Active
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- NORTHERN TRAINS LIMITED
- Contact Name
- Not specified
- Contact Email
- procurement@northernrailway.co.uk
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- YORK
- Postcode
- YO1 6JT
- Post Town
- York
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLE Yorkshire and The Humber
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLE2 North Yorkshire
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLE21 York
- Delivery Location
- TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber
-
- Local Authority
- York
- Electoral Ward
- Micklegate
- Westminster Constituency
- York Central
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061910-2025
2nd October 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/038215-2025
8th July 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.
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